Valve



Dec- 15, 1936- v w. B. THOMPSON v 2,064,769

,VALVE Filed Dec. 7, 1933 Hffirl Patented Dec. 15, 1936 UNITED STATESPATENT OFFICE VALVE Wayne. Thompson, Winchester,

to Spray Engineering Company,

Mass., assignor Somerville,

11 Claims.

The present invention relates to valves.

In the art of industrial coating or finishing, in which the coating orfinishing material is discharged in an atomized condition from a spraydevice, such as an air brush or spray gun, an essential element is thepressure reducing valve which controls the pressure under which thecompressed air is delivered to the spray device and/ or the receptaclein which the coating is stored and from which it is forced to the spraydevice. It is highly important that the pressure reducing valve deliverthe compressed air under that pressure calculated beforehand to be thebest for the particular conditions under which the coating or finishingoperation is to be performed'. Considerable skill and experience arerequired to enable the supervisor to determine beforehand the mostdesirable air pressure to use. Often, after the supervisor has adjustedthe pressure reducing valve in accordance with his superior judgment,the operative, actually performing the coating or finishing operation,will change the adjustment of the pressure reducing valve to suithimself and thus defeat the supervisors efforts to maintain efficiency.

It has been proposed heretofore to provide locking devices forpreventing valves from being tampered with by an unauthorized person,but

these locking devices are impraeticable for use in I connection with apressure reducing valve. Heretofore, these devices have comprisedrotatable and stationary members associated With the valve regulatingmeans. In one form, one of these members has had a single opening whilethe other has had a plurality of openings adapted to register with thesingle opening. With such a construction rotation of the rotatablemember effected successive opening registrations, so that by inserting alocking device through the registered openings the rotatable membercould not be moved and it was not possible to tamper with the adjustmentof the valve. But this type of device is practicable only in cases wherethe adjustment is coarse and when the different positions of adjustmentare few in number. If it is desired that the number of adjustmentpositions be increased, the size of both members must be correspondinglyincreased until they become relatively large in proportion to theapparatus with which they are associated'. Moreover, the number ofpositions in which the members can be locked together during a rotationof 360 can beno greater than the number of openings in one of themembers, and therefore the amount of angular adjustment betweensuccessive opening registry positions cannot be less than As a variantof the above construction, it has been proposed' heretofore to provideboth the rotatable member and the stationary member with a plurality ofopenings all of which are in registry, respectively, when any two are inregistry. Such a construction is advantageous in that the locking meansmay be applied in any one of a plurality of positions, but thedisadvantage still remains that throughout a rotation of 360 the numberof different positions in which the members can be locked together canneverbemore than the number of apertures in one of the members. Inaddition, this typer of valve locking device offers the same objectionsas to size aswas pointed out in connection with the first typementioned. The greater the number of adjustment positions desired, themore openings there must be andthe greater must be the size of themembers which are locked together.

The principal object of the present invention is to produce apracticable valve lock.

To the accomplishment of this object a feature of the present inventioncontemplates the provision in a valve provided With a bonnet and ahand-Wheel, each provided with a plurality of openings, the hand-wheelopenings being registrable successively with the bonnet openings duringan angular adjustment of the hand-wheel throughout 360, and means forobtaining, during said angular adjustment, a plurality of differentpositions in which a bonnet opening and a hand-Wheel opening register,the number of which is greater than the number of openings in thehand-wheel, of means for locking the bonnet and hand-wheel in theirpositions of opening registry.

Broadly considered, the number of different positions in which a bonnetopening and a handwheel opening register may be a multiple of the numberof openings in the hand-Wheel, or may merely exceed the hand-wheelopenings numerically. Preferably, the number of different positions inwhich a bonnet opening and a hand- Wheel opening register is the squareof the number of hand-Wheel openings. Such a construction isparticularly adapted to a pressure reducing valve as the minimum amountof angular adjustment between successive positions of opening registryis sul where N is the number of openings in the handwheel. In theillustrated embodiment of the present invention six hand-wheel openingsare provided and consequentlythe amount of angular adjustment betweensuccessive positions of opening registry is 10. The present inventioncontemplates the use, if found necessary or desirable, of ay greaternumber than six hand-wheel openings, such for instance, as ten ortwelve, thereby obtaining amounts of angular adjustments betweensuccessive positions of opening registry as small as 3 36 and 2 30',respectively.

Other features of the present invention reside in certain devices,combinations, and arrangements of parts fully set forth hereinafter. Allthe features are pointed out broadly and in detail in the appendedclaims, possessing advantages which will be readily apparent to thoseskilled in the art.

The illustrated embodiment of the present invention will be readilyunderstood from an inspection of the accompanying drawing illustratingthe best form of the invention at present known to the inventor, inwhich,

Figure 1 is a View in left side sectional elevation of the valve bonnet,with the padlock shown in full line;

Fig. 2 is a view in front elevation, partially in construction line toshow underlying parts;

Fig. 3 is a view in front sectional elevation taken on the line 3-3,Fig. 1;

Fig. 4 is a view in left side elevation Showing the bonnet, thehand-wheel and the padlock;

Fig. 5 is a view in sectional plan taken on the line 5 5, Fig. 2, and

Fig. 6 is a diagram showing how the center lines of the bonnet openingsmay be plotted.

The present invention is shown, for purposes of illustration only, asbeing embodied in a pressure reducing valve, and is provided with abonnet 8 (Figs. 1, 4 and 5) for holding a threaded stem 9 and forenclosing the regulating mechanism of the valve I0 (Fig. 5). Theconstruction of the pressure reducing valve is well known and forms nopart of this invention, so that the construction of the mechanism of thevalve itself will not be referred to further herein except whennecessary for purposes of disclosure of the present invention.

The bonnet 8 is conveniently bell-shaped and the belled end isexternally threaded as shown at II so that it may be received by thecasing I2 (Fig. 5) of the pressure reducing valve. The bonnet 8 isprovided with a hexagonal shoulder I3 adjacent the. threading II tofacilitate the application of a wrench thereto.

'I'he forward end of the bonnet 8 is provided with a frontal wall I4having a central opening I5 through which the forward, unthreaded end I6of the stem 9 projects. A circular flange I'I (Figs. 1, 2, 3 and 5) isformed integral with the wall I4 and extends back along the exterior ofthe bonnet 8 so as to be somewhat thicker than the wall I4. About theopening I5 the wall I4 is provided with a slight, smooth-faced boss I8.

Mounted upon the projecting end I6 of the stem 9 is a hand-wheel I9(Figs. 1, 2, 4 and 5) for regulating the adjustment of the pressurereducing valve. This hand-wheel is provided with a peripheral skirt 20extending rearwardly so as to cover and be spaced from the periphery ofthe flange I'I (Figs. 1 and 5). The hand-wheel is also provided with aforwardly extending hub 2I adapted to fit over the projecting end IB ofthe stem 9 to which it is rigidly secured by means of a pin 22 in awell-known manner as shown in Figs. 1, 2 and 5. The inner face 23 (Fig.5) of the hand-wheel I 9 abuts the boss I8 on the bonnet wall I4. 'I'heexterior surface of the skirt 20 may be roughened or provided withridges 24 (Fig. 2) to facilitate manipulation.

In order to hold the inner face 23 of the handwheel `I9 in abutment withthe boss I8, the stem 9 is provided with a flange 25 (Figs. 1 and 5)which is slightly spaced from the inner surface of the frontal wall I4when the hand-wheel I9 is in abutment with the boss I8. Interposedbetween the flange 25 and the frontal wall I4 is a soft washer 26 (Fig.5) which minimizes wear.

The threaded portion of the stem 9 is received inside the bonnet 8 by aninternally threaded collar 21 (Figs. l, 3 and 5) provided with a flange28 and with a pair of oppositely disposed lugs 29 extending therefromwhich fit in channels 3D formed in the inside wall surface of thebonnet. In abutment with the flange 28 is one end of a coiled spring 3|(Fig. 5), the other end of which abuts the head of a plunger 32 whichpresses against the diaphragm 33 of the pressure reducing valve. Withthis construction, which is well known, the lugs 29 prevent the rotationof the collar, with the result that when the hand-wheel I9 is rotatedclockwise o-r counter clockwise the collar 21 is moved longitudinally tovary the tension of the spring 3l and the pressure exerted on thediaphragm 33 by the plunger 32.

In order that the hand-wheel I9 may be locked to the bonnet 8 to preventadjustment of the pressure reducing valve by an unauthorized person, theflange I'I of the bonnet 8 is provided with a circular series ofre-entrant peripheral openings 34, herein shown as six in number, andnumbered I, 2, 3, 4, 5 and 6, respectively. The handwheel I9 is providedwith a circular series of internal openings 35, herein shown as six innumber and numbered Ix, 2m, 3x, 4r, 5:1: and 6a.', respectively. Each ofthe hand-wheel openings 35 is registrable successively with the bonnetopenings 34 during an angular adjustment of the hand-wheel throughout360. With this construction when a hand-wheel opening registers with abonnet opening, the hasp 36 of a padlock 31 may be inserted through theregistered openings, (Figs. 1 and 4). When the padlock is locked, itcannot be removed from the hand- Wheel I9 and since the skirt 23 thereofextends over the periphery of the flange I'I, the hasp 36 cannot bewithdrawn from the peripheral reentrant opening 34 in which it lies.Thus, the hand-wheel 2,9 cannot be rotated to change the adjustment ofthe pressure reducing valveafter the hand-wheel has been locked to thebonnet.

It will be apparent to those skilled in the art that if. when one of thesix openings 35 in the hand-wheel I9 is registered with one of the sixopenings 34 in the bonnet 8, the other handwheel openings 35 registeredwith the other bonm net openings 34, respectively, there would be,during the angular adjustment of the handwheel throughout 360, but sixdifferent positions in which a hand-wheel opening could be made toregister with a bonnet opening for locking purposes, and that theminimum amount of angular adjustment of the hand-wheel betweensuccessive positions of opening registry would be 60.

In order to increase the number of different positions in which ahand-wheel opening may be made to register with a bonnet opening and todecrease the minimum amount of angular adjustment between successivepositions of opening registry, the spacing between the openings in thebonnet and the hand-wheel, respectively, are such that only onehand-wheel opening and only one bonnet opening may registersimultaneously.

As shown in Fig. 2 the centers of the handwheel openings 35 are spacedequally apart by `'arcs of60 and are spaced., equally distant from theaxis of rotation of the hand-wheel. The centers of the bonnet openingsare spaced also equally distant from the axis of rotation of thehand-wheel, but successive pairs of these bonnet openings are not spacedapart by equal arcs.

The position of the bonnet open-ing centers may be plotted or may bedetermined empirically. To plot the bonnet openings the shape of thefront end of the flange I1 may be delineated on p-aper. The horizontalcenter line A--B (Fig. 6) is then drawn to represent the parting line ofthe pattern employed in casting the bonnet 8. The line C--D is thendrawn normal tothe center line A-B, the lines intersectingV at a pointrepresenting the axis of rotation of the handwheel.

From this axis, a circle 39, having. a radius equal to the distance fromthe center of a hand. wheel opening to said axis, is drawn. The centerof bonnet opening No. 1 is determined by crossing the circumference ofthe circle 39 with a radius f'from the axis or center of thel circle ata point from the point where the line C-D crosses the circumference ofthe circle 39. As shown in Fig. 6 the radius 40 is extended and numberedI. Short portions of similar extended radial lines may then be drawnapart in the space surrounding the periphery of the bonnet 8. As shownin Fig. 6 partial radial lines are numbered 2 to 36, both inclusive, andthe corresponding portion of the extended radius 40 is numbered I. Ineffect, these radial lines divide the periphery of the bonnet fiange I1into 36 10 arcs.

To determine the centers of bonnet openings No. 2, 3, 4, 5 and 6, radiallines 5, I5, 20, 24 and 34 are extended, in a manner similar to theradius '40, and these extended lines are numbered, re-

spectively, 2, 3, 4, 5 and 6. The bonnet openings numbered I, 2, 3, 4, 5and 6 lare then formed in any manner found desirablev and expedient asindicated in Fig. 6.

With this construction successive pairs of the bonnet openings arespaced apart diierentially, -a 40 arc separating the bonnet openingcenters Nos. I and 2, a 100 arc separating the bonnet opening centersNos. 2 and 3, a 50 arc separating the bonnet opening centers Nos. 3 and4, a 40 arc separating the bonnet opening centers Nos. 4 and 5, a 100arc separating the bonnet opening centers Nos. 5 and 6, and a 30 arcseparating the bonnet opening centers Nos. 6 and I.

From an inspection of Fig. 2 it appears that during the angularadjustment of the hand-wheel opening throughout 360 each hand-wheelopening registers successively with the bonnet, but that, when onehand-wheel opening is registered with one of the bonnet openings, all ofthe other hand-Wheel openings and bonnet openings are out of registry.

It is thus apparent that during an angular adjustment of the hand-wheelthroughout 360 the hand-wheel will occupy thirty-six different positionsof adjustment in each of which a hand-Wheel opening will register With abonnet opening.

As has been explained heretofore, rotation of the hand-wheel I9 causesthe tensioning collar 21 to move so as to Vary the tension of the spring3l. If the threading on the stem 9 is coarse, a rotation of thehand-wheel I9 throughout 360 will cause a relatively large movement ofthe collar 21. Stated in another way, the finer the threading on thestem 9, the shorter will be the movement of the collar 21 during arotation of the hand-wheel t9 throughout 360. This, of course, opens upthe possibilities of a micrometric adjustment of' the movement of thecollar 21, since the distance the collar 21 moves when the hand-WheelI9.v is; only partially rotated is but a fraction of the distance moved,however small, when the hand-wheel is given one complete revelution.

Experiencer has demonstrated that a suiciently 'nemicrometric'adjustment can be secured when the hand-wheel is rotatedarcuate distances of 10. Statedv in another way, the difference betweena given position of the hand-wheel I9 relative to the bonnet 8 and a.position resulting vfrom a rotation of the wheel in either directionthrough 10 is suicient for a minimum variation in the adjustment of thevalve I6. Accordingly, the openings 34 and 35 are positioned on thebonnet and hand-Wheel, respectively, inthe manner explained heretoforeso that, starting from a position where a hand-wheel opening regist-erswith a bonnet opening and rotating the hand-wheel throughout 360 ineither direction, a hand-wheel opening will register with a bonnetopening upon each angular adjustment of 10. With this mode of operationit will be seen that the successive registry of bonnet and hand-wheelopenings causes equal amounts of valve adjustment.

This may be demonstrated by reference to the following chart. Startingwith the position of opening registry illustrated in Fig. 2 in whichhand-Wheel opening No. 4 registers with bonnet opening No. 4x, the chartshowsv the position of opening registry for each 10 angular adjustmentof the hand-wheel throughout its 360 rotation in both a clockwise and acounter-clockwise direetion.

Clockwise Counterclockwise Bonnet opening Hand-wheel openingl Bonnetopening Since the hasp 36 of the padlock 3l' may be inserted through anycombination of registered openings, it is apparentthat any 10micrometric angular adjustment of the valve or multiple thereof may bemaintained free from tampering.

The provision of spacing the bonnet openings differentially orirregularly and of spacing the hand-wheel openings regularly providesthat the hand-wheel, during one revolution, may be locked in a maximumnumber of different positionsof adjustment with a minimum number ofopenings to receive the lock. If the hand-wheel I9 had but one openingto register successively with the six bonnet openings, it is clear thatonly six different positions of adjustment would be possible with onerevolution of the-hand-wheel. If the six bonnet openings were equallyspaced apart there would likewise be only six positions of adjustmentwith one revolution of the hand-wheel i9, since every time onehand-wheel opening and one bonnet opening registered, all the otherhandwheel and bonnet openings would be in registry, respectively.v Butby having the hand-wheel openings and bonnet openings arranged asdisclosed, there occur, during only one revolution of the hand-wheel I9,not six, but thirty-six entirely different opening registrations. Thenumber of different opening registry positions is greater than thenumber of hand-wheel openings. Actually the number of different openingregistry positions is the square of the number of handwheel openings.

This multiplicity of adjustments is of great practical importance. If ahand-wheel has but one opening, the bonnet flange must have thirtysixopenings to produce the results achieved by the illustrated embodimentof the present invention. But this means that the bonnet flange and thehand-wheel would have to be much larger than those disclosed herein.TheA same result follows where a plurality of hand-wheel openings4always register with a plurality of bonnet openings because to obtainthirty-six positions of adjustment the hand-wheel and the bonnet flangewould have to be provided with thirtysix openings each. This, too, wouldrequire a relatively large wheel and bonnet flange. The presentinvention avoids this large size in regulating wheels and provides thatthe hand-wheel I9 may be smaller than the palm of the hand and yetachieve the results given by much larger constructions; As aconsequence, when a pressure reducing valve, or any other type of valve,forms but a part of the apparatus, the sizes of the regulating wheel I9and bonnet ange Il are not out of all proportion to the size of theapparatus regulated, and the whole may be as compact as thecircumstances of use will allow.

As a matter of construction, certain practical matters arise. The bonnetflange l has been shown as provided with peripheral re-entrant openings,while the hand-wheel I9 has been shown as provided with internalopenings. Of course, this arrangement might be reversed or the bonnetflange and hand-wheel might both have internal openings. But as apractical matter the bonnet 3 is conveniently a casting, and it iseasier to form peripheral re-entrant openings therein than internalopenings. Moreover, as shown in Fig. 1, the padlock 3l is applied to thedevice by drawing the free end of the hasp 36 towards the operative,that is, by inserting the hasp from the rear. Wi n this mode ofapplication the peripheral re-entrant openings form a better passagewayfor the hasp than internal openings would form.

As stated above, the present invention is shown as embodied in apressure reducing valve only for purposes of illustration. It use isobviously not conned to this type of valve. Moreover, the choice of sixbonnet openings and six hand-wheel openings has been made only forpurposes of illustration and because the thirty-six positions ofadjustment in which the hand-wheel I9 may be locked are well suited foruse with the illustrated valve. It will be apparent that the number ofthe regularly spaced hand-wheel openings and the number and spacing ofthe irregularly spaced bonnet openings may be varied without departingfrom the scope of the actual invention. Accordingly. nothing hereinexplained is to be interpreted as limiting the Various features of thepresent invention in the scope of its application to use in connectionwith the particular mechanisrn, or the particular mode of operation, orboth, selected for purposes of explanation and illustration. While theparticulars of construction herein set forth are well suited to onestructural form of the invention and to the use to which it is put, itis not limited to this use, nor to these details of construction, nor tothe conjoint use of all its features, nor is it to be understood thatthese particulars are essential since they may be modied within theskill of the artisan without departing from the true scope of the actualinvention, characterizing features of which are set forth in thefollowing claims.

What is claimed as new, is:

l. In a valve, the combination with a bonnet, provided with a pluralityof openings, and a hand-wheel provided with a plurality of openings,each of which is registrable successively with the bonnet openingsduring an angular adjustment of the hand-wheel throughout 360, and meansfor obtaining, during said angular adjustment, a plurality of dierentpositions, in which a bonnet opening and a hand-wheel opening register,the number of which is the square of the number of openings in thehand-wheel, of means for locking the bonnet and the hand-wheel in theirpositions of opening registry.

2. In a valve, the combination with a bonnet, provided with a pluralityof openings, and a handwheel provided with a plurality of openings, eachof which is registrable successively with the bonnet openings during anangular adjustment of the hand-wheel throughout 360, and means forobtaining, during said angular adjustment, a plurality of differentsuccessive positions, in which a bonnet opening and a hand-wheel openingregister, the minimum amount of angular adjustment between successivepositions of opening registry being where N is the number of openings inthe handwheel, of means for locking the bonnet and handwheel in theirpositions of opening registry.

3. In a valve, the combination with a bonnet, provided with a pluralityof openings, successive pairs of which are spaced irregularly, and ahandwhe-el, provided with a plurality of openings, successive pairs ofwhich are spaced regularly, each opening of which is registrablesuccessively with the bonnet openings during an angular adjustment ofthe hand-wheel throughout 360, the spacing between the openings in thebonnet and the hand-wheel, respectively, being such that only onehand-wheel opening and only one bonnet opening may registersimultaneously and such that the successive registry of bonnet andhandwheel openings causes equal amounts of valve adjustment, of meansfor locking the bonnet and fi l.

the hand-wheel in any position of opening registry.

4. In a valve, the combination with a bonnet, provided with a hand-wheelprovided with an equal number of openings, each hand-wheel opening beingregistrable successively with the bonnet openings during an angularadjustment of the hand-wheel throughout 360, and means for registeringonly one bonnet opening and only one hand-wheel opening simultaneously,of means for locking the bonnet and the hand-wheel in their positions ofopening registry.

5. In a valve, the combination with a bonnet, provided with a pluralityof openings, a handwheel provided with an equal plurality of openings,each of which is registrable successively with the bonnet openingsduring an angular adjustment of the hand-wheel throughout 360, and meansfor obtaining, during said angular adjustment, a plurality of differentpositions in which a bonnet opening and a hand-wheel lopening register,the number of which is greater than the number of openings in thehand-wheel, of means for locking the bonnet and hand-wheel in theirpositions of opening registry.

6. In a valve, the combination with a bonnet, provided with a pluralityof openings, a handwheel, provided with an equal plurality of openings,each of which is registrable successively with the bonnet openingsduring an angular adjustment of the hand-wheel throughout 360, thespacing between the openings in the bonnet and hand-wheel, respectively,being such that only one hand-wheel opening and one bonnet opening mayregister simultaneously, of means for locking the bonnet and hand-wheelin any position of opening registry.

7. In a valve, the combination with a bonnet, provided with a singlecircular series of openings, and a hand-wheel, provided with a singlecircular series of openings, each opening of which is registrablesuccessively with the bonnet openings during an angular adjustment ofthe handwheel throughout 360, the openings in the bonnet being equal innumber to the openings in the hand-wheel and the spacing between theopenings in the bonnet and hand-wheel, respectively, being such thatonly one hand-wheel opening and one bonnet opening may registersimultaneously, of means for locking the bonnet and hand-wheel in anyposition of opening registry.

8. In a valve, the combination with a bonnet, provided with a singlecircular series of openings, and a hand-wheel, provided with a singlecircular series of openings, each opening of which is registrablesuccessively with the bonnet openings during an angular adjustment ofthe handwheel throughout 360, the spacing between the plurality ofopenings, and av openings in the bonnet and hand-wheel, respectively,being such that only one hand-wheel opening and one bonnet opening mayregister simultaneously and such that the successive registry of bonnetand handV wheel openings, while causing equal amounts of valveadjustment, occurs in an order other than the consecutive order of thehand-wheel openings, of means for llocking the bonnet and the hand-wheelin any position of opening registry.

9. In a valve, the combination with a bonnet, provided with a singlecircular series of openings, and a hand-wheel, provided with a singlecircular series of openings, each opening of which is registrablesuccessively with the bonnet openings during an angular adjustment ofthe hand-wheel throughout 360, the bonnet openings being equal in numberto the hand-wheel openings and the spacing between the openings in thebonnet and hand-wheel. respectively, being such that only one hand-wheelopening and one bonnet opening may register simultaneously and such thatthe successive registry of bonnet and hand-wheel openings occurs in anorder other than the consecutive order of the hand-wheel openings, ofmeans for locking the bonnet and the hand-wheel in any position ofopening registry.

10. In a pressure reducing valve, the combination with a bonnet,provided with a plurality of openings, a hand-wheel, provided with aplurality of openings, each of which is registrable successively withthe bonnet openings during an angular adjustment of the hand-wheelthroughout 360, a diaphragm, and means responsive to the angularadjustment of the hand-wheel for adjusting the pressure on thediaphragm, the spacing between the openings in the bonnet and thehand-wheel, respectively, being such that only one bonnet opening andone hand-wheel opening may register simultaneously and such that thesuccessive registry of bonnet and handwheel openings causes equalamounts of adjustment of the pressure on the diaphragm, of means forlocking the bonnet and the hand-wheel in any position of openingregistry,

11. In a device of the character described, the combination with a valvecasing member and a valve control member requiring relative movement forvalve operation, of a pair of ange elements nonrotatably applied to therespective members and having apertures at like radii but at differentcircumferential spacing in the respective members, whereby saidapertures may successively be brought into registration in pairs toreceive a lock on the occurrence of relatively slight angular movementbetween said members.

WAYNE B. THOMPSON.

